Force-pump oil can



Nov. 1l, 1924. 1,515,446

. E. B. STL-:LTER

FORCE PUMP OIL CAN Filed .July s.' 1924 Patented Nov. 11, 1924.

asians r rc EDWARD B. STELTER, OF HING'HAM, MONTANA.

FORCE-PUMP OIL CAN.

Application filed July 3, 1924. Serial No. 724,048.

To all whom t may 00mm:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. STELTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hingham, in the county of Hill and State of Montana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Force-Pump Oil Cans, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in cans for dispensinglubricating oil or like materials, and particularly to certainimprovements f in the details of the can illustrated, described andclaimed in my yPatent #1,466,256, granted on August 28, 1923.

In this can there was shown a piston shiftable. in one direction toforce the oil out of the can and in the other direction to permit thecan to be filled,'and manually operable means were provided for giving astep by step movement to the piston in a direction to force the oil out,and means provided for holding the piston against any reverse movement.I have found in actual L practice that one of these means may be omittedaltogether and that a similar means may be used for causing the movementof the piston to expel the oil.

The object of the present invention is to provide a very simple means ofthis character for this purpose.

A further object is to provide means of a simpler and more improvedcharacter than those shown in the patent before referred to adapted tobe actuated by the finger or thumb of the hand for giving a step by stepmovement to the piston to force the contents out of the oilvcan.

Other objects have to do with the detailed construction as will appearmore fully hereafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein z-Figure 1 is an elevation of a force pump oil can having my improvementapplied thereto, the parts being broken away;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper portion of thecan, showing in enlarged detail the means for lifting the piston;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the upper portion of the oil can,showing the gripping ring in section.

Referring to this drawing, designates the body of the oil can having anupwardly bowed top 11 and having an outlet spout 12 and a fillingopening 13. y The body ofthe oil can is constructed in accordance withmy prior patent, and operating within the oil can body is a piston 11,the stem 15 of which is tubular and extends upward through the top ofthe oil can and specilically through a packing gland 16. The upper endof this piston is preferably made as illustrated in my prior patent,though I do not wish to be limited to this.

For the purpose of shifting the piston rod 15 upward in order to forcethe oil out through the spout 12, I mount upon the base 17 having theupwardly extending ears 18 the lever 19, this lever having a fingerpiece adjacent the handle 20 whereby the lever may be oscillated. Theinner end of this lever is connected by a link 21 through an outstandingarm 22 carried'by'the clamping ring 23. This clamping ring hasapproximately the form in cross section of the tubular piston andloosely surrounds the rtubular piston. The end of the clamping ringremote from the projecting arm 22 rests loosely upon the upper end ofthe gland 16.

Disposed between the ears 18 and resting upon the base 17 is a fiat leafspring 24. The inner end of this spring is formed to provide a hook 25which engages wit-hthe lower cross bar of the link 28, while the rearend of this spring isv supported against the base 17 by means ofoverturned flanges 26. Thus this spring 24: tends to pull the arm 22downward anddraw the clamping ring 23 into a horizontal posi-tion, asillustrated in Figure 1. The'central apertureof the ring 23 isapproximately concentric to the rod 15, but theaXis of this centralaperture is at au inclination to the axis of the rod 15. Thus when thislocking ring or clamping ring 23 is in a horizontal position it willpass freely up and down upon the rod 15, but when this ring 23 is cantedupward by means of the upward movement of the arm 22, the ring will bindupon the rod, as shown in Figure 3, and the upward movement of the ringwill cause the upward movement of the rod. Thus Whenever the thumb lever19 is depressed, the rod 15 will be moved upward and the piston 141along with it, thus expressing the oil or grease. As soon as thepressure on the lever 19 has been released, however, the spring 24 willact to pull the arm 22 downward and, therefore, carry the ring into ahorizontal position, that is carry the ring to its initial position, theclamping ring sliding downward upon the tube but without having anyclamping engagement with the tube. Upon the depression of the lever 19,however, the ring would again clamp upon the tube 15 and again thepiston would lift it and thus a step by step motion ot the rod 15 may besecured by successive oscillations of the thumb lever or thumb rpiece19.

In my prior patent I showed a clamping ring or member which would lockthe piston rod 15 from downward movement, but I have round in actualpractice the piston 14 will iit `so tight that there will be practicallyno downward movement under the weight of the liquid within the containerso that. there is no necessity of this locking ring, thus doing awaywith the number of parts on the original mechanism.

The operation will be obvious trom what has gone before. The advantagesof the device ov'er my old construction reside in the simplicity of themechanism, the elimination of the non-essential parts, and the positiveaction of the device.

1. In a device of the character described, a body, a piston therein, apiston rod extending out through the top et the body, a clamping ringsurrounding the piston rod and adapted to engage the piston rod forunitary upward movement upon an upward movement of the clamping ring butto disengage with the piston rod and permit a downward movement of the`clamping ring independent of the piston rod upon a downward movement ofthe clamping ring, means `tor oscillating the clamping ring comprisug alever mounted upon the body, a link pivoted to kthe lever, the clampingring having an arm to which the link is pivoted, a spring resistingupward movement, and a link engaging the spring and the clamping ringand urging the arm ot the clamping ring ldownward and the ring into ahorizontal position.

2. In a device of the character described,

a body, a piston therein, a piston rod extending out through the top ofthe body, a clamping ring surrounding the piston rod and adapted toengage the piston rod 'for unitary upward movement upon an upwardmovement of the clamping ring but to disengage with the piston rod andpermit a. downward movement of the clamping ring independent of thepiston rod, a member mounted upon the top of the body and havingupwardly extending ears, a lever pivoted between the ears, a linkpivotally engaging the lever, the clamping ring having an arm with whichthe link pivotally engages, said member extending outward beyond theears and being provided with inwardly turned flanges, a leatI springresting upon said meinber between said Vears and engaged at one endbeneath said flanges and having its opposite end downwardly turned, anda link engaging this downwardly turned end of the spring and extendingover the arm 'of the clamping ring.

3. In a ydevice of the character described, a body having an arm, apiston rod extending through the top, a gland carried by the top andthrough which the piston rod extends, a clamping ring surrounding thepiston rod and resting at one point upon the top ot the gland andnormally supported in an appipxiniately horizontal position, said ringhaving an arm, the ring when canted upward by the arm engaging thepiston rod for unitary movement but the ring when moved toward aposit-ion at right angles to the piston rod disengafging from the pistonrod, means for oscillating the link comprising a lever operativelysupported upon the top ot the body, a link pivot'ally connecting 4thelever to the arm, a spring operatively supported upon the top of thebody, and a link connected to Asaid spring and engaging vover the arm ofthe ring.

In testimony whereof I hereunto fal'lix my signature.

EDWARD B. STEIJTER.

